1935-1943

Before the Second World War, there were only small private dairies in our country; they were usually integrated into a farm, and their scope of action did not extend much beyond the local area. In 1935, Mr Emile KLENSCH, an agronomist and owner of a large agricultural estate, founded his first dairy in Bettembourg; he named it EKABE, derived from “Emile Klensch A BEttembourg”.

Initially, the milk came solely from his own herd of 100 dairy cows, but gradually other independent milk producers joined him to increase the dairy’s production. In this way, the EKABE dairy managed to process nearly 25,000 liters of milk per day.

1943–1944

During the war, the German occupiers closed the EKABE dairy in Bettembourg and forced Mr KLENSCH to relocate to the east of the country, in a region without dairies and close to the German border; thus, Mr KLENSCH  purchased the former Fritz PASQUAY dairy in the village of Eschweiler.

Faced with the hardships of the war, the operations of the second EKABE dairy only truly resumed on January 10, 1944.

1944-1967

Milk production increased rapidly, reaching nearly 5 million liters per year. However, it was after the liberation that EKABE dairy experienced remarkable growth, largely due to the success of its cheese specialties such as Camembert, Brie, Port Salut, Tilsit, Limburger and more. Many cheese lovers swore by the initials EKABE.

In 1960, as many small village dairies were closing down, EKABE was processing about 16 million liters of milk annually. In 1967, Mr. Emile KLENSCH retired and passed the dairy on to his daughter, Mrs. Marthe KIPGEN-KLENSCH, who carried on his vision with passion and perseverance.

1967–1973

To stay competitive against the growing monopolization by a farmers’ organization and the increasing foreign competition, she decided to build a new dairy, as the old one no longer offered any prospects for expansion or modernization.

Work started in 1970 and finished in 1973 with the official opening on October 5 of EKABE’s third dairy, on its current site at the entrance to Eschweiler village.

From 1973 till today…

By 1977, EKABE dairy was collecting almost 25 million liters of raw milk from 300 Luxembourgish dairy farmers with five milk tankers.

Today, just three milk tankers collect double that amount—around 50 million liters annually—from about 90 farms, with herds ranging from 15 (for the smallest) to 200 cows (for the largest).

EKABE dairy processes about 110 million liters of milk annually (with a maximum capacity of 120 million liters). Its product range includes culinary creams—thick or liquid, fresh or long-life—fresh quark, desserts, and traditional cooked cheeses (“Kachkéis”) in various varieties, plain and flavored.